American Cuisines
Rouge Tomate
10 E. 60th St., between Fifth and Madison; (646) 237-8977; Open seven days, noon-4:30 p.m., 5:30-10:30 p.m.; CUISINE: Modern American; VIBE: Glossy culinary spa; OCCASION Midtown lunch, business dinner, detox dining; DON’T MISS DISH: Arctic char, yellowjack crudo, rabbit with chestnut pasta; PRICE: Appetizers $10, entrees $20, desserts $10; RESERVATIONS Accepted in downstairs dining room. Different menu in upstairs cafe; both equally good. There are 393 calories in the rabbit Fleischnacke at Rouge Tomate. The nutritionist counted. How many restaurants do you know that have a nutritionist? Fleischnacke is German for minced meat rolled in pasta and cooked in a stock. At Rouge Tomate, this means farm-raised, braised rabbit rolled up in chestnut pasta and sautéed in rabbit jus. None of the ingredients requires quotation marks. There’s not a mock anything anywhere in this dish. Those 393 calories also...
Read MoreBussaco
Starting a chowder trend in Park Slope 833 Union St., near Seventh Ave., (718) 857-8828. Mon.-Thur., 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri & Sat., 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m. CUISINE: Contemporary American VIBE: Domesticated firehouse OCCASION: Casual date, group dinner DON’T-MISS DISH: Crab chowder, sweet potato tortellini, Greek yogurt cheesecake AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $10; entrees, $21; dessert, $7 RESERVATIONS: Accepted Eating the crab chowder at Bussaco makes me wonder why chowder isn’t more popular. Was there a chowder trend? Did I miss it? Why don’t we have one now? After all, it’s a good time for one. The economy sucks and the weather is starting to suck, too. Just imagine – a cold evening, a warm restaurant and a hot bowl of chowder, the white not the red. And what makes it even cozier is that you’re seated in a roomy banquette...
Read MoreChar No. 4
Hard times call for hard liquor. And Southern cooking at Char No. 4. ADDRESS: 196 Smith St., between Baltic & Warren Sts.; (718) 643-2106. HOURS: Sun.-Thurs., 6 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 6 p.m.-1 a.m. CUISINE: Southern comfort food VIBE: Hip house of whisky Destination dining, group dinner DON’T-MISS DISH: Crispy cheddar curds, sage pork sausage, smoked honey glazed chicken AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $8; entrées, $16; dessert, $9 RESERVATIONS: Accepted How many bourbons can you name? Do you know the difference between rye and Scotch? Is there really a Scotch named Compass Box Vatted Grain Hedonism? For the answers to these questions, visit Char No. 4 on Smith St. in Brooklyn. Be prepared to drink. A lot. I thought I knew a thing or two about bourbon until I sat at the bar. It’s a glowing shrine to all grains distilled and...
Read MoreApiary
60 Third Ave., between 10th and 11th Sts. (212) 254-0888 Mon.-Thurs., 5:30-11 p.m.; Fri-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Sun., 5:30-10:30 p.m. CUISINE: New American VIBE: Stylish E. Village eatery OCCASION: First date, group dinner DON’T-MISS DISHES: Roasted peaches and serrano ham; spice-crusted lamb PRICE: Appetizers, $12; entrees, $25; dessert, $8 RESERVATIONS: Recommended CAPSULE: Honey and spice Apiary reminds me how hard it is to get it right. To most of us, dinner is just dinner. But to a restaurant’s chef and its staff, it’s much more complicated. Imagine all the questions that have to be answered before your entrée arrives. What’s fresh today? Can we make a profit on that? Am I going to shoot myself if I have to roast another chicken? Is this dish too much like Bobby Flay’s? Would anybody notice if I just pulled it off the...
Read MoreLa Superior / The General Greene
La Superior 295 Berry St., near S. Second St., Brooklyn, (718) 388-5988. Mon.-Thu. 12:30 p.m.-midnight, Fri.-Sun, 12:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. Cuisine: Mexican street food Vibe: Dingy taqueria Occasion: Destination dining Don’t miss dish: Mushroom quesadillas, enchiladas suizas Average price: Appetizers, $4; entries $10. Reservations: No reservations, cash only, BYOB. To say La Superior is understated is an understatement. “Do you think this is it?” a friend said nervously. We were standing outside a dingy storefront on an empty street in Williamsburg. “It must be,” I answered cheerily. “I need a cocktail,” she grumbled as she followed me through the door. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the restaurant doesn’t have a liquor license. The dining room at La Superior looks like a diner on its last legs. The table settings are disposable – red and...
Read MoreDelicatessen
54 Prince St., at Lafayette St. (212) 226-0211 Mon.-Sat., 7:30 a.m.-1 a.m.; Sun., 7:30 a.m.-midnight. CUISINE Creative comfort food. VIBE Open-air theater. OCCASION Casual date; group dining. DON’T-MISS DISH Bangers and mash, Ovaltine pudding parfait. AVERAGE PRICE Appetizers, $7-$11; entrees, $12-$24; dessert, $8. RESERVATIONS Recommended. Not many delicatessens require reservations. Then again, Delicatessen isn’t a “deli” in any conventional sense of the word. It’s a sleek, open-air theater in SoHo – floating leather banquettes, glossy white tables, a backlit bar and black Escalades parked out front. The restaurant spills onto the corner of Prince and Lafayette, and the corner spills into the restaurant. Waiters walk out onto the sidewalk to bring you your food. Right out front, slim young things smoke cigarettes and stare at their cell phones as if they were compacts. The social electricity lights up the...
Read MoreJames
605 Carlton Ave., at St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn (718) 942-4255 Tues.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 5:30-1a.m; closed Mondays. CUISINE Modern American cuisine VIBE Romantic neighborhood haunt OCCASION Intimate date; neighborhood dining DON’T MISS DISH Spinach salad; seared diver scallops; lemon almond pound cake PRICE Appetizers, $8-$12; entrees, $14-$29; dessert, $8-$10 RESERVATIONS For parties of six or more It’s 1 a.m., do you know where your chef is? If you’re a regular at James you do. He’s on the roof in his garden, among his herbs, weeding, watering, unwinding. It’s the end of a long night in the kitchen at the corner of 605 Carlton Ave. and St. Marks Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Bryan Calvert, the chef, has a short commute. He lives just above the restaurant and just beneath his rooftop garden – 600 square feet of...
Read MoreForge
134 Reade St., between Hudson & Greenwich Aves. (212) 941-9401 Tue.-Sun., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. CUISINE Modern American VIBE Wintry Tribeca haunt OCCASION Casual date; group dinner DON’T MISS DISH Kampachi tartare; fettuccine “carbonara” PRICE Appetizers, $12-$18; entrees, $26-$34; dessert, $9-$11 RESERVATIONS Recommended Larry Forgione is often called the “godfather of American cooking.” His restaurant in St. Louis, An American Place, is a tribute to our country’s rich culinary history, a place where home-cooking standards like mac and cheese go to get refurbished. For Marc Forgione, Larry’s 29-year-old son, that’s a tough act to follow. But after working beside his father for a couple of years, he has opened an American place of his own, Forge, in Tribeca. The windows have been flung open onto the overheated streets. Customers have come in a summery mood, wearing sundresses and sandals. And...
Read MoreHundred Acres is not even a ghost of its old self
‘Hundred Acres’ Imagine a restaurant on a quaint, tree-lined street. Nearby, a few lonely restaurants attract just enough attention to survive. But this one is haunted – haunted by the ghosts of restaurants past. Perhaps you’ve eaten in a place like this, where yesterday seems as vivid as the present. You go to the door you’ve always gone to, only to find it’s moved 40 feet north. A young female hostess greets you, and yet you can’t help expecting to see the gruff, French maitre d’ who stood at a different door for 20 years. A grandfather clock – junked long ago – stands stubbornly in the corner sounding the stroke of midnight. And the newly gray walls suddenly fade to dingy green. You open the menu and it’s a palimpsest – traces of the old menu visible...
Read MoreSheridan Square
Sunshine for News Sheridan Square I remember the night the Russian Tea Room reopened – Nov. 4, 2006. I was probably one of the first people to make a reservation. The reason was the chef, Gary Robins. I had eaten his cooking at the Biltmore Room a few years earlier, and I wanted to see how Russian tasted when it came from his kitchen. I still remember the foie gras pelmeni. It was the very dish that Eloise at the Plaza would’ve ordered up if she had the flu. I thought of it fondly long after Robins left the Russian Tea Room. Then for a couple of years the question was, where in the world is Gary Robins? Now we know. Or at least we thought we did. He went to Seventh Ave. South and took his...
Read MoreEleven Madison Park
A spectacular reinvention. 11 Madison Ave. at 24th St. Phone: (212) 889-0905 Dinner: Sun.-Thurs. 5:30-10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. 5:30-10:30 p.m. Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Brunch: Sat. & Sun. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Not many restaurateurs are as skilled at pulling off a top-notch $4.75 burger (Shake Shack) as they are a $145 haute French tasting menu (Eleven Madison Park). But Danny Meyer has built an enviable empire of 11 winning lowbrow and high-end restaurants. On a recent evening, the famed Shake Shack burger drew a line that spanned the length of an entire city block. I was en route to Eleven Madison Park, the most opulent feather in Meyer’s cap, when the sight of cheese fries and custard at the pickup window nearly lured me off course. Had I caved, I would’ve missed one of the most spectacular...
Read MoreEighty One
An upscale newcomer on the upper West Side. 45 W. 81st St., between Central Park West & Columbus Ave. (212) 873-8181 Dinner, Sun.-Thur., 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m; Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m.-11:30 p.m. CUISINE Modern American VIBE Upper West Side elegance OCCASION Romantic date; fine dining DON’T-MISS DISH Sea scallop & foie gras ravioli; dry-aged Black Angus sirloin PRICE Appetizers, $12-39; entrees, $29-42; desserts, $12 RESERVATIONS Recommended With Dovetail, Bar Boulud, With Dovetail, Bar Boulud, Madeleine Mae and the latest arrival of Eighty One, the upper West Side is having an impressive run of new restaurants. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would certainly make a habit out of the scallop and foie gras ravioli at Eighty One. It’s a splendid appetizer conceived by chef-owner Ed Brown, who served as executive chef at the Sea Grill for 14 years. If you’re...
Read MoreQ & A with Dovetail’s Vera Tong
With the recent debut of Dovetail on the Upper West Side, pastry chef Vera Tong dazzled both critics and diners with her truly inspired approach to classic desserts. Prior to Dovetail, Vera Tong worked in the kitchen at Compass, where she first met chef John Fraser. The two team up again at this highly received contemporary American restaurant where she not only has conceived an exemplary pastry menu, but also bakes the white cheddar cornbread that launch guests into dinner every evening. Vera’s signature brioche pudding with bacon brittle will be making an encore on the spring menu, as will new additions, including a chocolate and coffee parfait, glazed pineapple crumble and a peanut butter frozen cheesecake. Status: Single/Married/Divorced Single What did you want to be when you grew up? Just a cook How did you get into food?...
Read MoreCommerce
Nostalgic for an old New York. 50 Commerce St., between Bedford and Barrow Sts. (212) 524-2301 Dinner: Mon.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. CUISINE: New American VIBE: Charming tavern OCCASION: Neighborhood dining; group dinner DON’T-MISS DISH: Marinated fluke sashimi; red snapper with Thai-inspired herb broth PRICE: Appetizers, $11-19; entrees, $23-44; desserts, $9-16 RESERVATIONS: Recommended Cue the historical relevance of 50 Commerce St.: Nestled on a cobblestone-paved corner in Greenwich Village, this address has seen a Depression-era speakeasy, the 50-year-long run of the Blue Mill Tavern and a quintessential neighborhood haunt, Grange Hall. Did I mention a short-lived restaurant that resurrected the name of the Blue Mill Tavern? If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to dine in the Village in the 1940s, step into Commerce. It’s the newest incarnation of this landmark building. Co-owners Tony Zazula...
Read MoreSouth Gate
We have some reservations. ADDRESS:154 Central Park South PHONE: (212) 484-5120 DINNER: Sun.-Thur., 5.30 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. CUISINE Seasonal American. VIBE Sleek hotel eatery. OCCASION Hotel dining; dessert destination. DON’T-MISS DISH Buttercup flan; flash-seared calamari. PRICE Appetizers, $10-$21; entrees, $24-$39; desserts, $9-$12. RESERVATIONS Recommended. How fitting that South Gate premiered just on the heels of the highly anticipated unveiling of Alain Ducasse‘s Adour. After all, South Gate, and its chef, Kerry Heffernan, were installed to fill the void left when Ducasse vacated the Essex House. While Alain Ducasse’s former restaurant was buried in the rear of the building, South Gate has its own street entrance on Central Park South. With its glitzy glass façade overlooking the park, it’s a radically hip departure from Ducasse’s classically French production. Designed by Tony Chi, the sleek space is embellished...
Read MoreRaising the Bar on Organic Food – Free Foods NYC
You have to admire chef Matthew Kenney’s unbridled enthusiasm for opening restaurants. Though Heirloom and Blue/Green Organic Juice Cafe were both unsuccessful, Kenney seems to be making a comeback at Free Foods NYC. With business partner Peter Schatzberg, Kenney has launched this organic answer to fast food – a quickly burgeoning trend in NYC. Though this eatery is located in the heart of midtown, the space feels more like a Vermont country store. Shelves are lined with organic sodas and wicker barrels are stocked with organic chocolates and chips. While the container (pictured right) may look like plastic, it’s made entirely out of 100% sustainable, corn-based material. Thus, I was quite skeptical that the food would transcend any “tastes good for healthy food” expectations. Well, it does. In fact, the spice-rubbed filet mignon is excellent. Juicy slivers of filet get...
Read MoreDovetail
Address: 103 W. 77th St., at Columbus Ave. Phone: (212) 362-3800 Dinner: Mon.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 5:30 pm.-10 p.m. Cuisine: New American Vibe: Understated townhouse Occasion: Destination dining; civilized date Don’t Miss Dish: Salmon a la plancha; grilled venison Price: Appetizers, $12-$16; entrees, $28-$36; desserts, $10. Reservations: Recommended Eating salmon on the upper West Side doesn’t sound particularly thrilling, but at Dovetail it’s a religious experience. The rosy fish, grilled à la plancha, is exhilarated by a creamy horseradish gribiche (egg and mustard sauce) and bursts of caviar. With its buttery finish, it’s an intense and entirely satisfying appetizer. So is much of the sophisticated cooking at Dovetail, a New American restaurant that recently opened up on the upper West Side. Chef-owner John Fraser isn’t concerned with the trend toward hypercasual dining. With a rigorous sherry menu and...
Read MoreBrasserie 44
Address: 44 W. 44th St., between Fifth & Sixth Aves. Phone: (212) 944-8844 Hours: Dinner, Sun.-Thur., 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-midnight. Breakfast & lunch service. Cuisine: Modern American. Vibe: Yacht adrift. Occasion: Under-the-radar dinner; hotel dining. Don’t Miss Dish: Sweet onion tart; olive oil poached salmon. Price: Appetizers, $14-24; entrees, $24-44; desserts, $12-15. Reservations: Accepted. Capsule: The nautically themed Brasserie 44 feels like a restaurant adrift in the Royalton Hotel. A $17.5 million facelift and a newly minted restaurant were meant to reignite the once iconic Royalton Hotel. So where is everybody? Media moguls once flocked to the Philippe Starck-designed boutique hotel. Its futuristic lobby looked like a runway leading to its restaurant, 44, the city’s most fashionable cafeteria. But even the best of trends fall out of fashion. After a dramatic renovation, the Royalton Hotel’s lobby now...
Read More21 Club
Address: 21 W. 52nd St., near Fifth Ave.Phone: (212) 582-7200Dinner: Mon.-Thur., 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m; lunch, Mon.-Fri., 12 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. Closed Sundays.Cuisine: AmericanVibe: Midtown country clubOccassion: Power-lunch spot; time-warp dinnerDon’t Miss Dish: Mixed grill of game, pommes souffles, apple crisp.Drink Specialty:Exemplary global wine selection.Price: Appetizers, $12-23; entrees, $30-45; desserts, $10.50. $35 prix fixe lunch menu; $40 dinner prix fixe menu.Reservations: Recommended; dress code strictly enforced. A changing of the guard in the kitchen demands a revisit to this NYC classic. There is nothing subtle about the dress code inspection at the ’21’ Club. It is an unapologetic once-over by hosts, who vigilantly deny entrance to guests in jeans or sneakers. Though this midtown institution may have surrendered ties at lunch, it strictly enforces an old-school jacket policy. It’s ironic that a former speakeasy with bar...
Read MoreSmith’s
Address: 79 MacDougal St., between Bleecker & Houston Sts. Phone: (212) 260-0100 Hours: Dinner, Mon.-Thu., 5-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11:30 p.m. Cuisine: Modern American Vibe: Glamorous dining car Occasion: Romantic date; see and be seen dinner Don’t Miss Dish: Portuguese sardines, steamed egg with polenta, roast lamb saddle Price: Appetizers, $6-16; entrées, $21-26; desserts, $8-11 Reservations: Highly recommended Capsule: Smith’s is not just another pretty face Step into Smith’s main dining room and you’ll feel like you just stepped aboard a luxury railroad that’s made its final stop in the West Village. It’s appointed with black-leather booths, chandelier sconces and a mirrored ceiling – a stylish setting that’s attracting nearly as stylish a crowd. Smith’s rests in a long, narrow storefront in a neighborhood populated by dive bars, coffee shops and NYU students. It’s an unlikely destination for a glamorous...
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